Sports & Recreation

Best Place to Mountain Bike St. Louis 2005 - Chubb Trail

Walk into any area bike shop and ask an employee to name his or her favorite local MTB trail. Nine times out of ten, they'll fire back with Chubb, a seven-mile, out-and-back stretch packed with nigh-impossible climbs, breathtakingly fast and long downhills and equally breathtaking views. Running between Lone Elk Park and West Tyson Park (and accessible off I-44 east of the Meramec River), Chubb ranks up there with some of the best trails in the nation. As such, it can go from being your buddy to making you its bitch. Newbies might want to start at the Lone Elk end, where the wide fire road allows for a nice warm-up. Sections along the Meramec change from quick, hard-packed single-track to rocky and rooted technical trails, culminating in the Steps, a staircase-like pile of boulders in West Tyson. Taking on those latter parts means the very real possibility that you might break your bike. Or yourself. But once the wounds heal, you'll be chomping at the bit to go back out again.